Hi new to this place so go easy

Basically just started to renew my interest in working Oz for a year on working holiday visa. Been thinking about doing this since I was 18 (now 29) nearly did it at 21 but I bottled it!

I'm thinking about starting off in Perth , am I correct in thinking finding work there is relatively easy ?? I currently work as 2 nd line support on computers orientated job. I'm not fussed about what I do bar work basically anything.

Would there be a chance I could get a similar support job in Perth ??

Also I'm planning on travelling on my own in January 2009 time, do you think Perth would be a suitable place for 29 year old??

I'm open to suggestions as to where to first stay ....

thanks for taking the time to read my first post

Divaboy

welcome to the board.
I met my wife in London back in 2002 and decided to take the plunge at 27 1/2 to take a WHV and come and live with here. Best decision I ever made and after 2 years I become a permanent resident of Australia.

I however did not get much work in my selected field, Security Architect for IT, till about 7 months or so after I came here. Please don't get me wrong here, most of the companies in Melbourne where after 3 months to perm, there way of saying they did not want people on WHV as you can only work for 3 months in any one position. However when I cracked it, landed at National Australia Bank who sponsored me to work with them for 3 years with a business visa it was the best time I ever had and without their support I would not be where I am today.

Take the plunge whilst you can, as you will only regret it if you don't. I am not sure about the job market in Perth, but Melbourne is heating up as I am getting a number of offers weekly to join them.

Check out www.seek.com.au to find jobs in the area and contact a couple of recruitment agencies before hand and give them your CV and say you are in the area from xx/yy/zzzz and see what they have, you may strike gold.

Thanks for that , not planning on going till Jan 09 so I have plenty of planning to do and thankfully plenty of time to do it

After spending a fair few hours reading up I think i'm planning on exploring the east coast. Melbourne has been recommended to me also.

As a rough guide i'm planning starting at Sydney and getting all my tax/bank stuff sorted out and then maybe travel to Melbourne.

I'm planning on taking £2.5 to get me started would you say that is enough ??

thanks again for the replies

Well banking is a little different over here than the UK. For a start there are monthly fees on some accounts, charges to withdraw money from ATM's different to the issuer bank etc. I was lucky enough to get into my wifes Credit Union where there was no fees for banking. I would advise looking for accounts that don't have fees, but I don't know of any @ present.

Also January is the middle of Summer in Melbourne and so you should have good weather till about the middle of March, but the seasons are changing and I am not sure about Sydney etc. Pretty soon it will be winter and Melbourne can be like London, so try and organise UK Summer -> Oz Summer, which means either leaving later on this year or the same time in 2009, otherwise you will have Lot of UK Winter -> Little of Oz Summer -> Lot of Oz Winter -> Little of UK Winter.

as for 2.5K, the pound is going down at the moment, so that may get you around AU$5.5K which is a good start and should keep you going for a little while. Housing is cheaper than the UK, but Melbourne is going through a housing crisis at present and so rent is shooting up, so perhaps look for a friend with a house down here to share costs etc, otherwise single living will be expensive.

Ok excuse my thickness So when Ideally would it be a good time to go for a year??

Surely if i'm planning on going for a year I could make sure I go up the east coast in Oz winter (which is uk summer time correct??) to keep the nice weather and then come down to Melbourne etc in Oz summer time (uk winter time)Am I correct in thinking this ??

Also What are the typical charges for banks over there ??

thanks again for taking the time to respond to my questions

Yes the seasons are in reverse here. so my recommendation here is to travel from south to north, Summer to Winter, as I believe that Syndey and above is good all year round, whereas Melbourne is known to have 4 seasons in 1 day, if you know what I mean.

As for banks I am not sure, I will let others give recommendations as I am so far removed from the scene, ironically I used to work for a bank, that I cannot comment. It is something I know is different to the UK, so you should be aware of it.

Ah thats makes more sense now I think I missread your post my bad.

Thanks again for taking the time out. Could anyone else suggest anything that I have missed or to look out for ??

If you'll be arriving in January, I'd suggest starting in Melbourne as Jan/Feb are probably the best months to be in Melbourne in terms of hot weather and lots going on (Australian Open tennis, festivals etc).
You can then make your way up the coast to coincide with the weather, if that's a priority for you.
Perhaps you could then finish off your year in Perth, when it will be nice and warm again, and will be nearer for you to fly back to the UK.
Whatever you decide to do, you'll have a ball

Here's a link to some climate info that may be of some help to you.

http://www.aussie-info.com/tourist/climate.php

A lot will depend on how you are going to divvy your time up between working & travelling.

If you plan on visiting North Queensland and/or Darwin (for Kakadu etc) then Summer is definitely best avoided due to the rainy season. For Kakadu generally the major places of interest are only accessible Jun - Nov.

If you're looking for perpetual summer then your best bet would probably be to be working in Mel or Syd from Jan - April then heading north from there - passing through Byron, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Fraser Island, Airlie Beach/Whitsundays then Cairns / Port Douglas - that would be a fairly typical backpacker itinerary anyway.

Agree with you there - the OP definitely wouldn't be alone if he did that itinerary . There will be thousands of other people all following exactly the same route, at exactly the same time.

Just so you are aware u can now work for 6 months for one employer on a WHV

Very good , thats a starting guide , I can make a few alterations to suit me.That was my main point to work out a popular route , so I would be following other travellers as i'm going to on my own

I've just been made aware of this , which one of the main reasons my interest in doing this has been reignited

Thanks to all your replies really answered loads of questions.

However if anyone else has any ideas then please just post always open to suggestions

Check out Lonely Planet's Thorntree forum - it appears to be entirely populated by people here on WHVs. There's nothing they don't know about the backpacker trail and what-not-to-miss on your WHV. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa

Thanks for that, been there already , going through all of the threads thanks again